Today’s text

Genesis 15:1-6

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.’ But Abram said, ‘O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said, ‘You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.’ But the word of the Lord came to him, ‘This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.’ He brought him outside and said, ‘Look towards heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Reflection

An old man looks into the future and sees … nothing, no legacy, no promise, nothing that endures and no one who will carry his soul and hopes into the future.

He looks into the darkness of his heart, but you lead him into another darkness, Holy One. You lead him outside his tent and bend his neck the other way.

You turn his face from the ground to the stars and tell him to do the impossible … to count the billion points of light burning in the cold immensity of space. No, more.

“How many?” You ask. “How many? Go ahead and count. Tell me how many you see.

“That’s how many descendents you shall have. That’s how many blessings will come. That’s how many will know the blessing of my faithful promise.”

Go, look up. Look at the stars and imagine.

Imagine the power that fashioned and still creates them as they burst into being and flame out thousands of times each day. Imagine the yawning immensity of space.

See the unique beauty of each star, some a bare twinkle that seems to blink out if you don’t look hard. Others shine so brightly their refection glows in the night on lakes and rivers by which you stand.

Imagine and see.

See not the starts but their Infinite Source, the Promiser who says all things are possible with me. Imagine being addressed by this Greatness.

Imagine your face in the loving and gentle hands of this One who lifts your head from the ground to the stars that you may see, hope and know the staggering love who holds your life.

Imagine it all, and know: This is not your imagination. It is your reality.

Pr. David L. Miller